The Kullu traverse began from Garsa at the base of the Hurla Nala and headed towards Sainj via Kandi galu, over Shakranda Galu and Basleo Pass in the Great Himalayan National Park covering a total distance of 63kms with 4200 meters of elevation gain over 3 mountain passes. The route passes through Hurla Nala, Jiwa Nal, Sainj river, Tirthan river and Kurpan Gad.
Garsa to Kandi Top (via Kandi Galu), May 12th 2023
Trail head
Villages/Hamlets enroute
Night Stay
We (Gary and me) set out on our traverse from Manali on May 12th at 10am catching one of the frequently available buses to Bhuntar and from there switching a bus heading to Garsa. The valley is buzzing with paragliding activity and from our talks with locals not many people hike to Kandi pass as there is a road going through the pass. We stopped for a chai before we started our hike at 12-30pm. The trail goes through the village of Dhara leading up a west facing ridge towards the quaint village of Palgi at 2060 mts.
Crossing the village of Palgi the trail goes continues through a dense jungle of oak and conifir trees, the path contours along the mountain crossing the Kandi nala. We incorrectly went downhill following the stream which lead us through a steep, slippery climb down the gully. A good two hours were spent in dense forest until we made our way back up to the OSM trail- exhausted. A nicely laid out path ensued, contouring all the way up to the pass. On our way to the pass we stumbled upon a few locals who were carrying ploughing tools to sow their charas plants and offered us a hash joint rolled in a beedi, we graciously accepted the toke and their company. Feeling refreshed we walked upto Kandi Pass.
After walking on winding roads we decided to take a short cut through the village until we met a local who invited us for chai and offered to host us for the night at Kandi top. Suresh was enthusiastic to have hikers come through his village as he was building a homestay to attract tourists. We took refuge inside a cozy room at the unfinished home stay. The night was still young, we gathered around a bon fire enoying each others company, home cooked food along with lugdi (rice beer). We slept for the night in a cozy bed with thick blankets enjoying the warm hospitality and calmness of the night in this untouched valley.
Neuli to Kanon (via Shakranda Galu), May 13th 2023
Trail head
Villages/Hamlets enroute
Night stay
At the break of dawn we woke up refreshed from last night's hospitality at Kandi top, we started our day early hiking down to the road through the beautiful village of Kandi and a valley full of settlements on either side of the valley. 20 mins later a bus to Neuli arrived. The driver stopped at Sainj for breakfast and I used that time to charge my phone and plan the days hike ahead marking springs, campsites and settlements enroute.
Large size aloo paranthas were packed for later and with a full stomach we started our hike from Neuli to Shakranda Pass. A lesser know mountain pass connecting Sainj Valley to Thirtan Valley used mostly by shepherds and villagers to commute on the ancient path. The trail goes through lush meadows at Nanda Thatch with the backdrop of spring trees made for a very scenic trail.
Six hours of hiking later we finally made it to the top of Shakranda pass, the last 100 meters was a steep climb up slushy soil with the recent snow melt. The view of Thirthan valley revealed itself with distant settlements of the valley sticking out with its terrace farms and surrounded by thick forests. It was already 5pm, with two hours of remaining light we rushed down targetting Siarchu hamlet. To our surprise the hamlet was deserted. Only farms and animal shelters seemed to be around surrounded by meadows which we later found out is the agricultural land belonging to villagers of Kanon and the buildings to accomodate livestock is called Dogri which is uninhabitated by humans.
A couple from Kanon were gathering wood at Siarchu, they guided us to the village which is where the villagers reside. After enquiring them for a place to pitch our tent we were later greeted by the village chief who offered us a room at his unfinished homestay, yes twice in a row. The night got merrier by the minute with the entire family including the grandmother, the chiefs wife and their kid Abu joining us for dinner. We ate rotis with homemade butter, fiddlehead fern foraged from the forest, rajma which was grown at their farm and took turns drinking shots of sorgum (jowar wine). After many laughters and stories exchanged we bid goodnight to the friendly family and got into our sleeping bags completely boozed up for a good night's rest after a long hard day of hiking. The whole experience felt surreal after hiking 20+ kms through the jungle barely seeing any humans in sight. The warmth of the locals lifted our spirits to keep going the next day and explore the wonders of this valley.
We woke up after a chilly night at Kanon and were treated to a breakfast of daal and rice. We headed towards Pekhri a tiny village across the valley at 2900mts. The young boy Abu guided us to the trail going towards Pekhri. As we made our way down to the nala, we came across a shepherd who suggested we go towards the road to Bulbagi as not many people take the route to Pekhri anymore. We were also tired from the previous two days of hiking and decided it's best to take an easy day and follow a more direct route. This route still remains unmapped, for future hikers to explore ;)
We hiked down to a long winding mud road which was under construction with no vehicles in sight for hours until a car stopped and offered to drop us till Bulbagi. Dehydrated from the afternoon hike we gladly accepted the offer and were on our way to the bus stand.
Bathad to Bagipul (via Basleo Pass), May 14th - 15th 2023
Trail head
Villages/Hamlets enroute
Night stay
We reached Bathad by 5pm, got ourselves a late lunch/early dinner of egg chowmin while recharging our electronics and looked for a place to pitch our tent. A flat space next to the stream was a perfect place for the campsite, with a cozy fire burning, we collected wild strawberries and sat up drying out feet till the night got chilly. Eventually I got into the tent and cozied up for the night in my sleeping bag while Gary was stoking the fire.
I was slowly getting accustomed to this minimalist lifestyle of hiking. Things were simple in the mountains with only the bare necessaties of life on your mind- like food, shelter and water. I was grateful to be experiencing this kind of freedom.
We rose at 6am, packed up our tent and ate chowmin for breakfast at a local dhaba. The path to Basleo pass was well marked with a wide path. After 400 mts of gradual ascent we stopped at Sarut Dogri, a hamlet at located at 2330 mts to fill water at a stream. A local approached us and we got talking about our hiking route, it seemed to be a popular route used by the locals to get from Sarahan to Banjar via Bathad. He told us of the long journey locals undertook by foot before roads were constructed. Bathad to Shimla was an essential one which would take them 3-4 days, similar to our traverse. Images of villagers commuting with their horses to form new alliances with neighbouring villages were conjuring up in my head as I saw the beautiful path ahead of us.
The trail goes through lush meadows and old growth trees like oak, pine and chestnut trees. The forest was picturesque at every turn with many springs and suitable spots to setup a camp site on a flat patch of grass. At 3000mts we were greeted to lush meadows with alpine flowers in full bloom. We decided to rest there to snack on chocolates and salted peanuts while we stared at the buffaloes grazing in front of us.
As we approached the pass there were patches of snow and a rocky path leading up to the pass. It was a picture perfect saddle in between two snow capped peaks. We were greeted to the view of Shiva valley overlooking Bhag Sarahan. Shepherds were busy setting up their summer dwellings, they stay in temporary settlements from May to September in search of nutrient rich grass for their herds of sheep, cattle and buffaloes.
Descending down from Basleo pass was two hours of easy walking through evergreen forests, leaves gently swayed down to the ground as a breeze of wind swooped into the forest. We reached Bhag Sarahan soon, Bhag translates to a flat ground in Himachali and it was indeed a huge flat ground. It was still 3pm and the weather was clear so we decided to walk around and explore the village of Bhag Sarhan. The village looked sleepy as we looked around for a place to have lunch, after a few tries one of the locals agreed to open up his shop for us and served us egg chowmin.
As evening approached we began walking towards Bagipul. A 7km downhill walk cutting through long winding roads crossing many villages on the way. We were joined by a group of kids walking home from school. They walked lesierly plucking apricots and golden berries from trees along the way. A few hours later we reached Bagipul, situated next to the Kurpan Gad river. It is also the trail head to the sacred mountain of Shrikhand Mahadev visited by many piligrims every year. Bagipul has many dhabas and shops to restock on food along with road connectivity to nearby towns like Rampur. We pitched up our tent and enjoyed our dinner of rotis with butter chicken next to the river and slept with sounds of the water flowing.
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